Femur bone marrow from brain death deceased donors as source of human mesenchymal stromal cells for cell therapy.

Background: The use of a deceased donor (DD) as an alternative source of human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSC) is promising, but has been little explored. This study evaluated the potential of femur bone marrow (FBM) from brain-death donors as a source of hMSC and compared this with hMSC from matched iliac crest bone marrow (ICBM). Methods: Sixteen donor-matched FBM and ICBM samples were processed from brain-death donors. We analyzed the starting material and compared cell yield, phenotypic profile and differentiation capacity of hMSC. Results: Neither the amount of nucleated cells per gram (14.6×106±10.3×106 from FBM vs. 38.8×106±34.6×106 from ICBM, P≥0.09) nor the frequency of CFU-F (0.0042%±0.0036% in FBM vs. 0.0057%±0.0042% in ICBM, P≥0.73) differ significantly from FBM or ICBM. Cell cultures from both sources were obtained and hMSC yields showed that there were no significant differences in hMSC obtained per gram of bone marrow (BM) when comparing femur with iliac crest samples. At passage 2, 12.5×106±12.9×106 and 5.0×106±4.4×106 hMSC per gram of BM were obtained from FBM and ICBM, respectively. FBM and ICBM hMSC express CD73, CD90, CD105, but not hematopoietic lineage markers [CD45, CD34, CD11, CD19 and isotype of HLA clase II (HLA-DR)]. HLA-A expression from both sources was clearly detected, while HLA-B was weakly expressed or undetectable and HLA-DR was undetectable. Cells from both sources were differentiated in vitro into osteoblasts, adipocytes and chondroblasts. Conclusions: To our knowledge, there are no previous studies evaluating BM from femur dead donors as a source of hMSC. Our findings confirm that it is feasible to expand cells from FBM from brain-death donors meeting in vitro characteristics of hMSC, making them a promising source for clinical translation.

In Vitro Cell Interactions on PVDF Films: Effects of Surface Morphology and Polar Phase Transition.

In recent years, several studies have validated the use of piezoelectric materials for in situ biological stimulation, opening new interesting insights for bio-electric therapies. In this work, we investigate the morphological properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) in the form of microstructured films after temperature-driven phase transition. The work aims to investigate the correlations between morphology at micrometric (i.e., spherulite size) and sub-micrometric (i.e., phase crystallinity) scale and in vitro cell response to validate their use as bio-functional interfaces for cellular studies. Morphological analyses (SEM, AFM) enabled evidence of the peculiar spherulite-like structure and the dependence of surface properties (i.e., intra-/interdomain roughness) upon process conditions (i.e., temperature). Meanwhile, chemical (i.e., FTIR) and thermal (i.e., DSC) analyses highlighted an influence of casting temperature and polymer solution on apolar to polar phases transition, thus affecting in vitro cell response. Accordingly, in vitro tests confirmed the relationship between micro/sub-microstructural properties and hMSC response in terms of adhesion and viability, thus suggesting a promising use of PVDF films to model, in perspective, in vitro functionalities of cells under electrical stimuli upon mechanical solicitation.